Automated content identification for binge watching of digital media

ABSTRACT

“Binge watching” of multiple episodes of a program is improved by the player device automatically skipping repeated portions of the program. Opening and closing credit scenes, for example, can be automatically skipped to thereby allow the viewer to progress through the entire season of programming at an even faster rate than was previously thought possible. Programming to be skipped may be identified by detecting audio or other digital fingerprints in the content itself, for example. Content to be skipped may be identified to the playback device according to presentation time stamp (PTS) or other time markers.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/731,960 filed on Dec. 31, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,611,803. That application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/787,211 filed on Dec. 31, 2018. These applications are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to computer systems and automated processes for automatically recognizing repeated portions of stored digital media content. More particularly, the following discussion relates to systems and processes to automatically detect portions of television programs or the like that can be automatically skipped without substantially affecting the user experience.

BACKGROUND

As television receivers, media players and other media playback devices become increasingly sophisticated, additional functions and features have become available. Modern television receivers and other media players, for example, are now capable of time or place shifting the viewing experience, of augmenting the viewing experience with enhanced data or other content, and/or of taking any number of other useful actions to enhance the viewer's enjoyment of their media programming.

In recent years, many viewers have taken to “binge watching” certain programs, particularly when multiple episodes of the same program are simultaneously available via a remote or local digital video recorder (DVR), a video on demand (VOD) service, and/or the like. “Binge watching” typically refers to watching multiple episodes of a television back-to-back rather than waiting for subsequent episodes of a program to become available at a later time. Due to the widespread availability of DVRs and streaming VOD content, it is often possible for a viewer to enjoy an entire season of a program in a matter of hours, as opposed to waiting for days, weeks or even months for subsequent programs to be broadcast or otherwise become available.

Immediate content availability has been very favorably received, and many viewers frequently continue directly to the next episode of a program as soon as they finish viewing the previous episode. It is nevertheless desirable to create systems, devices and automated processes to improve the user experience even further. These and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or the following detailed description.

According to various embodiments, television receivers, media players and/or other computerized devices streamline the “binge watching” of programs by automatically skipping over repetitive portions of the program, such as opening or closing credits, preview sequences and/or the like. Program portions to be skipped are supplied to the playback device in any manner so that the device is able to skip over repetitive or otherwise unnecessary portions of the program without manual input from the viewer. Programming to be skipped may be identified by detecting audio or other digital fingerprints in the content itself, in some implementations. Skipped content may be identified according to presentation time stamp (PTS) or other time markers in some types of programming (e.g., video on demand). In other embodiments, automated program detection can be used to set anchor points or other references in the programming itself that can be used to skip over less relevant portions of the programming, as desired.

Various embodiments provide an automated process executable by a television receiver, media player or other device. The automated process suitably comprises the broad steps of: initially rendering, by the media player device, a first program of a program series for playback to a viewer; receiving, by the media player device, digital skip data relating to a second program of the same program series as the first program, wherein the digital skip data indicates at least one portion of the second program that is a duplicate of a viewed portion of the first program; and, during subsequent rendering of the second program of the program series to the viewer, the media player device automatically skipping the at least one portion of the second program that is a duplicate of the viewed portion of the first program. Such a process may be executed by a processor or controller circuit of the device by executing program instructions stored in a memory or other digital storage of the device.

In another example, a media player device comprises a processor and a non-transitory data storage (e.g., a memory, solid state drive, magnetic hard drive and/or the like) that stores computer-executable instructions that are executable by the processor. The instructions, when executed by the processor of the media device, suitably perform an automated process as described herein.

These and other example embodiments are described more fully herein.

DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system to recognize and automatically skip over repeating portions of different programs.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing various example processes to automatically skip over repeating portions of different programs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or the following detailed description.

According to various embodiments, “binge watching” of multiple episodes of a program is improved by the player device automatically skipping repeated portions of the program. Opening and closing credit scenes, for example, can be skipped to thereby allow the viewer to progress through the entire season of programming at an even faster rate than was previously thought possible.

Generally speaking, automated content analysis is used to recognize portions of the program that are repeated in different episodes. Information describing the various portions of the program is stored in a database and/or used to adapt playback of the program as desired. As a viewer progresses through a season of a program, for example, program segments that are identified as repetitive can be conveniently (and automatically!) skipped, as desired, thereby allowing the viewer to enjoy multiple episodes of the same program in reduced time.

With reference to FIG. 1 , an example data processing system 100 allows a user of a playback device 110 (e.g., a set top box, a computer, a phone, a tablet, a video game player or any other media device) to select and receive video programs from a program source 120. Source 120 may be a video on demand (VOD) service, as shown in FIG. 1 , that includes a database 125 containing multiple episodes 127 of a program. Alternately, source 120 may be a remote service DVR (RSDVR), or a local service DVR implemented in a hard drive or other storage of the playback device 120, as appropriate. Put another way, program content may be received from any broadcast, streaming or other source. In some embodiments, one or more episodes of a program are received from a first source (e.g., a DVR or television receiver 122) and subsequent episodes of the same program are received from a different source (e.g., VOD server 120).

Each episode of the program will typically include multiple program segments corresponding to opening credits, different scenes of the program, commercials, closing credits, etc. Various episodes of the same program will typically include one or more program scenes that repeat from episode to episode, such as opening or closing credits, theme song sequences, and/or the like. As noted above, a “binge watching” viewer may not need to view the repeating scenes (e.g., opening theme, credits) more than once. Indeed, if the viewer is watching many episodes of the same program in a single viewing session, repeated viewings of the same scene may be annoying to the viewer. Often, the viewer will attempt to manually skip over the repeated scenes using fast forward or similar trick play functions, if possible. But manual skipping is imprecise at best, and can be annoying as well.

The various scenes of each episode of each program may be automatically identified for skipping in any manner. One system for automatically identifying and tracking different scenes of broadcast television programs is described in US Patent Publication No. 2017/0208369, which is incorporated herein by reference, although other embodiments could be implemented using any other identification systems or processes, as desired. In some embodiments, an audio or other “fingerprint” of the media program is analyzed to determine if the scene has been previously encountered. Video segments of the various scenes are identified with a hash digest or other unique digital code based upon the content of the scene. If the digital codes produced for a particular segment produce identical (or at least very similar) digital codes as a previously-encountered segment, then the two segments can be determined to be very similar, if not identical. Data that identifies each program segment is typically stored in a database 135 that is managed by a content management system 130 or the like.

This data 137 in the database 135 may be formatted and organized in any manner. Data 137 may be used to augment program content, to replace advertisements, to monitor viewing of advertisements, and/or for any other purpose. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1 , data 137 includes identification of program scenes within each episode of a program series. Each scene represents a segment of the program that may be further identified, if desired, with labels or other supplemental information. Segments containing advertisements, for example, may include additional information to identify the advertiser, the product presented, the time and date that the ad was run, the channel or network, etc. Segments representing scenes of the program may be further tagged, as desired. Scene descriptions could identify actors and actresses present in the scene, for example, or any information about the scene (e.g., description of the underlying scene, flags for adult content, etc.).

Data 137 can identify the various segments of the program in any manner. In various embodiments, data 137 identifies the various segments by presentation time stamp (PTS), clock time since the start of the program and/or any other references to the start and end times of the sequence. In some implementations, segments in data 137 are identified by the start and end times of the segment. Equivalently, segments could be defined by a single time reference (e.g., a segment start or stop time) along with a duration of the segment. Identifying program segments according to time references embedded in the program stream itself can be useful in video on demand (VOD) or similar applications in which the program content is available for analysis prior to distribution to the viewer. A typical VOD stream has embedded time references that are relatively unchanging from viewer to viewer. That is, every viewer receiving the same video stream will typically experience the same PTS and/or clock times, so these times can be used to reference scenes within the program. If a recurring scene spans 0:18 seconds through 1:32 seconds of the program, for example, these times will be the same for most, if not all, viewers of the program. Telling the playback device to automatically jump from 0:18 through 1:32 seconds of the playback time, then, can be expected to produce a consistent and accurate skip for multiple viewers.

Playback times can vary, however, for viewers of broadcast programming, particularly if the viewer has recorded the program to a DVR. The start times of programs can vary based upon local broadcasters, advertisement breaks, differences in DVR settings, and any number of additional factors. To auto-skip portions of broadcast content, then, it can be helpful to reference the start and end points of the skipped section to “anchor points” in the dialog, timed text or other content of the program itself.

To that end, automated content recognition can be used to identify repeating segment breaks that can be tied to anchor points in the program content itself. That is, the segment boundaries may not be defined with strict time values, but rather by offset reference to an audio or visual cue in the content itself. Example techniques for referencing segment boundaries of a video program based upon offsets from closed caption data is described in US Patent Publication No. US2017/0188075, although other embodiments may use other techniques or systems, as desired.

Content management system 130 or the like suitably analyzes the database 130 to identify segments of each program that are repeated from episode to episode. As mentioned above, repeated segments of the program may correspond to opening or closing themes, credit sequences and/or the like. These repeated program segments may be marked in database 130, if desired. Such scenes could be marked in data 137 by setting a flag or semaphore, for example, to indicate that the scene is a duplicate of a prior scene or a scene from another episode. Alternately and/or additionally, the content management system 130 may extract at least some of the data 137 for the various repeated scenes to a separate data table 139 in database 135 to indicate repeating segments for particular programs or series.

When a viewer of the media playback device 110 elects to watch a subsequent episode of a just-watched program, then, the device 110 can obtain auto-skip data describing repeated portions of the subsequent episode from a content management service 130, from the program source 120, 122, or from any other source. In various embodiments, data identifying repeated segments is contained in electronic program guide (EPG) data delivered to the playback device 110 from a broadcast or other source. Alternately, the playback device 110 may request the data associated with a selected episode from a CMS 130 or other source via network 105, as desired. The player device 110 then processes the data 137 identifying scenes to be skipped in any manner. In various embodiments, the player dereferences the time and/or anchor point data to recognize and automatically skip over redundant scenes in subsequently-viewed programs.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show automated processes 200 and 300 to skip certain segments of a program being viewed based upon segment data received from CMS server 130. FIG. 2 shows a process 200 to automatically recognize and skip duplicate program segments based upon time references in the programming, and FIG. 3 shows a similar process 300 to automatically recognize and skip duplicate program segments based upon anchor points in the program content. In both examples 200 and 300, media player device 110 is appropriately programmed or otherwise configured to automatically skip over those portions 139 of the programs that are repetitive from other episodes of the same program. By skipping those portions of the program that repeat from episode to episode, binge watchers of a program series can avoid unnecessarily viewing content that has already been viewed. The various functions shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be carried out by processing hardware (e.g., microprocessors, digital signal processors and/or the like) in the devices shown. Typically, the processing hardware will carry out the various functions by executing programmed instructions that are stored in a memory or other non-transitory digital storage of the device, as appropriate.

With combined reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 , the content management system 130 suitably receives the content to be analyzed (function 202, 303), analyzes the various scenes of the program to identify segment boundaries (function 204), and compares the fingerprints or other digital identifiers of the identified scenes to recognize duplicate scenes between programs (function 208).

In various embodiments, CMS system 130 compares digital fingerprint, digest or similar “signature” data used in analysis function 204 to recognize duplicate (or nearly duplicate) scenes in different programs. Function 208 may be carried out at any time after the program content is made available to the analyzing system 130. In various embodiments, the scene analysis and comparison functions are carried out in advance of the program episodes being available to the viewer.

In FIG. 2 , CMS 130 receives essentially the same content as the VOD or other service 120 that delivers the content to the player device 110 (function 202). In this example, the segments 137 recognized in function 204 can be identified with respect to PTS, “clock time” or other time references as desired. Since the program source 120 and the analysis system 130 both receive essentially the same program content, the timing can be reasonably assumed to be consistent between the various copies, thereby allowing for relatively accurate and consistent time references while the program is being played back to the viewer. To that end, function 206 typically involves creating entries in database 135 for each identified scene of the program, with temporal references to the boundaries of the segment representing that scene.

In FIG. 3 , however, the CMS server 130 may not receive the same content stream as the DVR, television receiver or other source 122 (functions 302 and 303). As noted previously, differences may occur due to different local broadcasters or feeds, different commercial breaks, different settings of a recorded copy versus a broadcast copy, and/or any number of other factors. In this case, absolute time references such as PTS or “clock times” may not be accurate enough for reliable skipping. Instead, CMS references segment boundaries to portions of the timed text stream, the audio stream and/or the like. A word of phrase of timed text, for example, could be identified as an anchor point, with suitable offsets from the anchor point provided so that the player device 110 can determine where the program segment begins and ends. A segment anchor could be, for example, a character saying certain words (e.g., “Hello Jerry!”) in the timed text of the program, which is associated with a PTS value. If the segment boundary is known to be some number of seconds prior to and/or after the occurrence of the anchor event, then the boundaries of the program segment can be defined with sufficient precision and accuracy. To that end, function 306 in FIG. 3 involves the CMS system 130 identifying a unique text string or other anchor point that is nearby a segment boundary, and defining the program segment with respect to one or more time offsets from the occurrence of the anchor point. This information may be delivered to the player device for subsequent processing, as desired (function 316).

In both processes 200 and 300, player device 110 suitably requests and receives media programming from an appropriate source 120, 122 (function 210). The source provides the requested content as a media stream or the like (function 211). Note that in some implementations, media source 120, 122 may be physically present within the same device as the playback device 110. A set top box or similar television receiver, for example, may have a DVR, placeshifter and/or receiver component that acts as the program source 122, with a presentation and display component acting as the player device 110, as appropriate. In other embodiments, media source may be a separate device or service apart from player device 110, as when media source 120 is a VOD service 120 that delivers media streams via the Internet or another network 105. Any number of other embodiments may be formulated, as desired.

Segment skip data obtained from analysis 204 may be delivered to one or more media player devices 110 in any manner. In the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , player device 110 requests segment data 137 for the program selected by the viewer (function 215). The segment data 137 may be delivered in any manner. In the example of FIG. 2 , segment data 137 is defined with respect to PTS or other time references that can be directly processed by player device 110 (function 216). In FIG. 3 , the segment data 137 delivered to the player device 110 is defined with respect to anchor points and offsets, as described above (function 316). In either case, data 137 may be delivered in any other manner, such as via an electronic program guide, via the program source 120, 122 rather than direct from the CMS 130, or in any other manner. It is not necessary that the data 137 be requested by the player device 110 in all embodiments; equivalent embodiments may automatically deliver skip data 137 in conjunction with delivery of the program content and/or with EPG data without the need for a direct request 215, if desired.

The playback device 110 renders the content for playback in any appropriate manner (function 220, 320). In the example of FIG. 2 , function 220 involves monitoring playback time and comparing the playback times of any segments contained in the skip data 137. In the example of FIG. 3 , function 320 involves monitoring the timed text or other source of anchor points for an occurrence of an anchor, and then processing any offset times to identify relevant program segments. If an identified program segment is to be skipped (function 222), then playback skips from the beginning of the identified segment to the end of the segment (function 224). If the segment is not a duplicate segment or is otherwise not to be skipped, then the segment is rendered for playback, as usual (function 225). Playback and monitoring for skipped segments continues for additional segments and programs, as desired.

Various embodiments may be enhanced or modified in any number of different ways. In some embodiments, the automatic skipping of redundant scenes only occurs if the viewer has actually watched the initial scene within a certain period of time. That is, if the viewer is enjoying multiple episodes of the same program in quick series, the opening theme may be presented in the first episode of the “binge” session, but skipped in subsequent episodes that are watched within the relatively near future (e.g., an hour or so to about a day or so). Similarly, skipping could be suspending if the viewer did not actually watch the initial scene within a predetermined period of time (e.g., an hour of so). To implement this, the playback device would receive an indicia from CMS 130 or another source that identifies the scene to be verified. The playback device 130 would then check if the identified scene was indeed rendered to the viewer within the predetermined time period. If not (e.g., the viewer manually skipped the relevant scene, or began watching after the scene had occurred) then the duplicate scene could be presented in playback of the upcoming episode.

In other embodiments, the automated skipping could be activated only for programs that are subsequent episodes of other programs that were watched during the current viewing session, or watched within a threshold period of time (e.g., an hour or so). In this example, repeated scenes can be automatically skipped in episodes watched within the predetermined time period of another episode of the same program, but for viewing outside of the predetermined time period, the repeated scenes are not skipped. For example, if the viewer has watched a prior episode of the same program within the past hour or so, then the repeated scenes can be automatically skipped. Tracking of previously-viewed programs, as opposed to specific scenes, may be easier to implement in practice on many modern playback devices 110. Again, the general concepts set forth herein may be adapted to any number of alternate but equivalent embodiments.

The term “exemplary” is used herein to represent one example, instance or illustration that may have any number of alternates. Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations, nor is it necessarily intended as a model that must be duplicated in other implementations. While several exemplary embodiments have been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of alternate but equivalent variations exist, and the examples presented herein are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. To the contrary, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described without departing from the scope of the claims and their legal equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An automated process executed by a media player device, the process comprising: initially rendering, by the media player device, a first media stream comprising a first television program of a program series for playback to a viewer; receiving, by the media player device from a remotely-located content management system via a network, digital skip data relating to a second television program of the same program series as the first television program, wherein the digital skip data comprises a listing of the duplicate scenes identified in the first and second television programs; and if a second media stream comprising the second program of the program series is rendered to the viewer within about one hour of the initial rendering of the first media stream, the media player device automatically advancing to a future playback point in the second media stream to skip over the duplicate scenes identified in the listing, and otherwise rendering the second media stream including the duplicate scenes identified in the listing, wherein the duplicate scenes identified in the listing are identified by the content management system performing an automated analysis of the first and second television programs of the series to automatically recognize the at least one duplicate portion of the second television program.
 2. The automated process of claim 1 wherein the listing of duplicate scenes is received by the media player device via a digital network from a content management service.
 3. The automated process of claim 1 wherein the automated analysis comprises: analyzing each of a plurality of program segments in the first and second television programs to generate digital identifiers for each program segment; and comparing the digital identifiers from the program segments of the first television program to each of the digital identifiers generated for the program segments in the second television program to recognize duplicate program segments based upon matching digital identifiers.
 4. The automated process of claim 1 further comprising the media player device verifying that the viewer has actually viewed the viewed portion of the first television program.
 5. The automated process of claim 4 wherein the at least one portion of the second television program is not skipped if the viewer has not actually viewed the viewed portion of the first television program.
 6. The automated process of claim 1 wherein each of the duplicate scenes in the listing are defined according to a first presentation time stamp (PTS) representing a start time and a second PTS representing an end time.
 7. The automated process of claim 6 wherein the first PTS and the second PTS are both MPEG presentation time stamps.
 8. A media player device comprising a processor and non-transitory data storage, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the non-transitory data storage to perform an automated process, the automated process comprising: initially rendering, by the media player device, a first media stream comprising a first television program of a program series for playback to a viewer; receiving, by the media player device from a remotely-located content management system via a network, digital skip data relating to a second television program of the same program series as the first television program, wherein the digital skip data comprises a listing of the duplicate scenes identified in the first and second television programs; and if a second media stream comprising the second television program of the program series is rendered to the viewer within about one hour of the initial rendering of the first television program, the media player device automatically advancing a playback point of the second media stream to thereby skip playback of the duplicate scenes identified in the listing, and otherwise continuing playback of the second media stream to thereby render the duplicate scenes identified in the listing.
 9. The media player device of claim 8 wherein the duplicate scenes identified in the listing are not skipped if the viewer has not actually viewed the duplicate portion of the first television program.
 10. The media player device of claim 8 wherein each of the duplicate scenes in the listing are defined according to a first presentation time stamp (PTS) representing a start time and a second PTS representing an end time.
 11. The media player device of claim 10 wherein first PTS and the second PTS are both MPEG presentation time stamps.
 12. The media player device of claim 8 wherein the content management system identifies the duplicate scenes in the listing by performing an automated analysis of the first and second television programs of the series to automatically recognize at least one duplicate portion of the second television program, wherein the automated analysis comprises: analyzing each of a plurality of program segments in the first and second television programs to generate digital identifiers for each program segment; and comparing the digital identifiers from the program segments of the first television program to each of the program segments in the second television program to recognize duplicate program segments.
 13. An automated process to be performed by a content management system having a processor, non-transitory data storage and an interface to a network, wherein the automated process comprises: analyzing first and second television programs of a television series to recognize different scenes in the first and second programs; assigning each of the different scenes in the first and second programs a segment identifier; generating, for each of the different scenes in the first and second programs, a digital fingerprint that represents the content of the scene; comparing the digital fingerprints for each of the scenes to identify duplicate scenes in the first and second programs; and responding to a request from a player device via the network by transmitting, to the player device via the network, a listing of the duplicate scenes identified in the first and second programs, wherein the player device is configured to render video streams encoding the first and second programs for presentation to a viewer and to process the listing of duplicate scenes during playback of the second program so that if the second program is rendered to the viewer within about one hour of the first program, the media player device automatically advances so that the duplicate scene in the second program is skipped, and to otherwise render the second media stream including the duplicate scene.
 14. The automated process of claim 13 wherein each of the different scenes is associated with a first presentation time stamp (PTS) representing a start time and a second PTS representing an end time.
 15. The automated process of claim 14 wherein the media player skips the duplicate scene by automatically advancing from the first PTS of the duplicate scene to the second PTS of the duplicate scene.
 16. The automated process of claim 15 wherein first PTS and the second PTS are both MPEG presentation time stamps. 